Back in my day, you’d be trotting across the country, come upon an inn, and ask what the price for shelter, a meal, and boarding your horse for the night would be. With points+cash bookings, third-party sites, “flash deals”, and the like, hotel booking has gotten a lot more complicated since way back then (on the plus side, we’ve made a lot of progress against typhoid and cholera). Anyways, in this post I’m going to explain the only two ways I make Disney hotel reservations these days and why I stick to these ways even if they cost me a little more.
Booking Hotels Directly With Disney
You can book Disney hotels for both Disney World and Disneyland directly through Disney’s websites:
Unlike many chains that offer discounts simply for booking direct, there isn’t any specific incentive to book directly with Disney. If there’s some sort of ongoing discount from Disney that offers a better price than other sites, then that’s a fine reason to book directly, but what about when prices are lower elsewhere?
For starters, I should say I’ve booked Disney trips through third-party sites like booking dot com before and never had an issue. I’ve used third party sites for probably over 70% of my non-Disney hotel bookings over the years, and I can’t recall a single instance where I had a substantial problem. So why do I do things different with Disney?
The bottom line is that Disney vacations are complicated, and your hotel reservation represents a lot more than just where you’re going to put your head at night. Your hotel reservation will determine your perks, including:
if you can get access to Early Entry, essential for successful rope drop
when you can buy Individual Lightning Lanes, which can sell out
whether you have access to Extended Evening Hours
And I can promise you that basically no third party booking site cares about any of those things. To be clear, however you book, you’ll get these perks. Disney doesn’t care how you book. But, for example, there’s a common practice among third-party bookers that if something goes wrong with your reservation (like they oversold inventory), they’ll rebook you at a comparable hotel. Well, what do they consider comparable to a Disney hotel? I don’t really want to find out.
Conversely, if you book through Disney, you can trust that if you have any problems or questions, Disney is going to be there to help you. One big reasons to book Disney World resort hotels is to make your trip as smooth as possible. Well, that goes for how you make the booking, too.
Now, again, you can book through a third party and link your reservation to your Disney account. Do this properly, and you won’t have any issues. But there can be hiccups. Does the booking have the right number of people? Did they remember to include your 3-year-old, who will require a linked park ticket? And when you link the reservation, did you properly pair the guests count from that reservation with the members of your traveling party?
If you read this and think “huh? what wonky nonsense is this guy going on about?”, well, that’s my point! You don’t have to worry about properly linking your reservation if you just book it through Disney, on your Disney account, to begin with. And if you do need help, you’ll be dealing with Disney, which is better than having them tell you to talk to “your agent,” the random booking site that offered you the best price.
It can be hard to spend more than is absolutely necessary. The cost of a Disney World vacation is already out of control, so of course you want to save money everywhere you can.
But the flipside is that for the money you’re putting into your trip, you want it to go as seamlessly as possible. Believe me when I tell you that what seems to you a small, technical issue (maybe not linking your 3-year-old to your hotel reservation properly) can be the difference between a perfect ride filled morning and a very imperfect morning spent sandwiched between Grumpy and Dopey in the Guest Services line.
Booking With a Travel Advisor
But I actually don’t book most of my trips directly with Disney. The reason is simply that I have a travel advisor who helps me with these things—Lauren Quirk of Travel With Character LLC. I cover the reasons I work with a travel advisor in more detail in a separate post, but the bottom line is that I get all the simplicity of booking directly with Disney—i.e. Lauren makes sure everything is linked properly, every guest accounted for, and so on—with none of the complexity of a third party site.
Of course, there’s still someone between me and Disney, but she’s a real, professional travel advisor, not the chat functionality on some website you booked the hotel through. In this case, I prefer having someone else who can call Disney and deal with unexpected issues. Do you really think the chat support on waysupercheaphotelz dot com is going to help you get your My Disney Experience issues resolved?
Save yourself the headaches. Book directly with Disney or Book with a travel advisor.
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.
Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.